Match report: Sheffield Sharks 91 Manchester Giants 70

Ben Moorcroft

Sheffield Sharks eased to victory after an authoritative performance over Manchester Giants at the EIS.

TJ Robinson led the way with 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the impressive win.

And Jerrold Brooks was named game MVP alongside Robinson for his 18 point contribution.

The Sharks started as they meant to go on with a three pointer from Mike Cook beating the buzzer.

A combination of Cook and Robinson helped the Sharks pull away from a Giants team struggling to create substantial offence.

After finishing the first quarter with a commanding 11 point lead, the Sharks persisted with making the Giants pay with a fast paced offence.

Quick ball movement maintained Sheffield’s ability to get good looks and forced the Giants to send them to the line with fouls. Star guard Brooks scored seven consecutive points to close out the half and give Sheffield a 47-31 point lead.

The Sharks extended their dominance through patience on the offence end of the floor, resulting in good looks at the basket.

Giants coach Williams told his players at half time “lets push, lets push!”. And his team made a run of three consecutive field goals piling pressure on a hesitant Sharks defence.

Home coach Atiba Lyons quickly adapted to a zone defence, which helped the team get stops and fast break opportunities.

Robinson ended the third with a monster dunk on a fast break and started the fourth will a huge block on Manchester forward Babalola.

The Sharks then removed their starters and cruised to the win. Horstsmann put up 13 points in the second half to continue his fine run of form.

The most pleasing aspect for the hosts was their improved defensive effort. The Sharks out rebounded the Giants 48 to 30.

Their ability to throw their opponents different defensive looks will aid the team as they struggle to be consistent on both ends of the floor.

A much tougher interior presence and better defence will be encouraging ahead of a trip to the undefeated Leicester Riders on Sunday.